Study Finds That Children Prefer Toys Suited To Their Gender

It's the age old debate. Nature vs nurture. Do we create gender or his gender biological?

A new study has found that children instinctively prefer traditional toys such as trucks for boys and dolls for girls, nudging towards biological.

A team led by psychologists from City University London, compiled evidence collected by researchers across the Western world over the last eight decades.

The study found that there were clear differences between what each gender chose which "indicates an innate influence on this behaviour".

While the trend is heading towards gender-neutral teaching and parenting, it seems that our biological make up is what really influences our behaviours.

The study said: "Despite methodological variation in the choice and number of toys offered, context of testing, and age of child, the consistency in finding sex differences in children’s preferences for toys typed to their own gender indicates the strength of this phenomenon and the likelihood that it has a biological origin."

Interestingly, when young boys were given toys that were targeted at little girls, they behaved aggressively towards the toy. For example, in 1980, a group of psychologists noted that "boys played with a toy food mixer as if it were a machine gun".

There has been a change in what little girls play with, however, shying away from dolls, makeup and kitchens.

The study revealed that over the years, "girls have been exposed to increasing pressure to play with neutral-typed toys as the volume of advertising to children and expansion on the number and type of children’s media outlets have increased enormously."

For boys however, as they grow older, there is an increased need to play with toys typed for their gender.